The identity of a car that was used by the mayor of Reading to get to and from engagements has been revealed, as well as the tens of thousands of pounds spent on it.
The mayoral car was mentioned in freedom of information (FOI) requests, a clarification and answers from Reading Borough Council on travel expenses for the mayor.
Thanks to an FOI, the Local Democracy Reporting Service can reveal that the latest mayoral car was a Tesla Model 3, which the council spent tens of thousands of pounds on.
Councillor Rachel Eden (Labour, Whitley) was photographed being dropped off in the car outside Reading Town Hall in October 2022.
The situation caused controversy as whoever was driving the car parked on double red lines, which bans stopping at any time and often results in a fine.
Cllr Eden was Mayor of Reading from November 2021 until May 2023.
The Tesla, an all-electric car, was hired through a local hire company from March 2021 until the agreement was discontinued in May 2023.
Itemised spending from the council’s budget reveals £12,768 was spent on the car in 2021/22, and £18,604.40 was spent in 2022/23. That is a total of £31 372.40.
Cllr Eden and her predecessor, cllr David Stevens, who served as a mayor from March 2021 until November 2021, would have used the car.
The hiring agreement was ended in May 2023, when Tony Page became mayor.
Since then, the mayors have used public transport or taxis to get to and from mayoral duties.
Spending on the car service went down to £3,477.40 in 2023/24 and £2,420.13 in 2024/25, when cllr Glenn Dennis (Labour, Kentwood) was the mayor.
A council spokesperson said: “The mayor’s travel expenses to and from mayoral engagements in 2024/25 amount to around 12 per cent of the travel expenses in previous years when a mayoral car was routinely used to transport the mayor to and from engagements.
“The use of a mayoral car was discontinued in May 2023, and there are no plans to reintroduce it.
“The mayor in 2024/25 used his own bus pass for the vast majority of travel to mayoral engagements.”
Cllr Dennis said: “In terms of expenses, I made every effort to keep costs to an absolute minimum.
“As the council already clarified, I used my own bus pass for the vast majority of engagements, relying on taxis only when safety concerns and late-night travel made that a necessity.
“Travel costs during my term were significantly lower than previous years when the mayoral car was routinely provided.”
A previous FOI by The Tax Payers’ Alliance found that the council spent £61,345, around £20,000 per year, in the three years leading up to 2018.
Cllrs Rachel Eden and Glenn Dennis are seeking re‑election in the council elections on Thursday, May 7.
Cllr Stevens previously served as a Conservative for Thames ward from 2004 to 2022, and was re-elected as Labour representative for Abbey ward in 2024.
